Billy as a Christ like figure
Throughout Billy Budd, Melville makes numerous biblical allusions, especially when referring to Billy. After Billy kills Claggart, Vere refers to him as the “vessel of an angel”. To Vere, the elimination of Claggart (the supposed evil on the ship) was needed to be done. Even so, for this action Billy must be executed. Here we see the beginning of Billy’s martyrdom. This continues throughout the story. During Billy’s execution he is described as being as soft as “the fleece of the Lamb of God”. The entire scenes leading up to Billy’s execution are very reminiscent of the crucifixion of Christ. While Billy’s actions to Vere are angelic, as we discussed in class, Billy does not very much on the ship. While Billy’s spirit and goodness reformed the last ship he was on, he was not able to do that on his final ship. On the Bellipotent, Billy was liked by the sailors but not much else. A Christ like figure typically makes some enormous sacrifice and is martyred. Billy does not make a sacrifice, he is simply good hearted. Why then does Melville decide to describe him this way? He lays out all the foundation for Billy as a Christ figure, but does not quite deliver. It is possible that this was an intentional decision. As this was not intended to be the final product of Billy Budd, perhaps Melville planned on laying better foundation for Billy’s martyrdom in a future version.
I think that Melville left it up to us to decide the significance of the connection between Billy Budd and a Christlike figure. What I found interesting was the way the narrator described Billy’s death. Billy was not afraid of death, but also didnt convulse while being hanged, which is very unusual, leaving speculation as to whether or not he actually died. It was described as supernatural, which again ties into the connection of religion to the story.
I’m not sure I totally see Billy representing a Christ like figure, mainly because of his disability. I do agree that the moments before his death were strange in that he was not scared at all and that he didn’t react to or try to resist the hanging. But I think I have to attest that to that Billy was already dead inside, realizing that there was nothing he could do to change his position.